The Morphologies of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in the CANDELS-UDS Field: Compact Bulges, and the Rise and Fall of Massive Disks

Abstract

We have used deep, HST, near-IR imaging to study the morphological properties of the most massive galaxies at high z, modelling the WFC3/IR H-band images of the ~200 galaxies in the CANDELS-UDS field with 1 < z_phot < 3, and stellar masses M_star > 10^11 M_sun. We have used both single-Sersic and bulge+disk models, have investigated the errors/biases introduced by uncertainties in the background and the PSF, and have obtained formally-acceptable model fits to >90% of the galaxies. Our results indicate that these massive galaxies at 1 < z < 3 lie both on and below the local size-mass relation, with a median R_e~2.6 kpc, a factor of ~2.3 smaller than comparably-massive local galaxies. Moreover, we find that bulge-dominated objects in particular show evidence for a growing bimodality in the size-mass relation with increasing z, and by z > 2 the compact bulges display effective radii a factor ~4 smaller than local ellipticals of comparable mass. These trends appear to extend to the bulge components of disk-dominated galaxies, and vice versa. We also find that, while such massive galaxies at low z are bulge-dominated, at 1 < z < 2 they are predominantly mixed bulge+disk systems, and by z > 2 they are mostly disk-dominated. The majority of the disk-dominated galaxies are actively forming stars, but this is also true for many of the bulge-dominated systems. Interestingly, however, while most of the quiescent galaxies are bulge-dominated, we find that a significant fraction (25-40%) of the most quiescent galaxies have disk-dominated morphologies. Thus, while our results show that the massive galaxy population is undergoing dramatic changes at this crucial epoch, they also suggest that the physical mechanisms which quench star-formation activity are not simply connected to those responsible for the morphological transformation of massive galaxies into present-day giant ellipticals.

39 pages, 19 figures, 2 tables, submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (27)

• The UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
• Mass and environment as drivers of galaxy evolution in SDSS and zCOSMOS and the origin of the Schechter function
• Cold streams in early massive hot haloes as the main mode of galaxy formation
• The hierarchical formation of the brightest cluster galaxies
• Formation of Massive Galaxies at High Redshift: Cold Streams, Clumpy Disks and Compact Spheroids
• Galaxy Zoo: the dependence of morphology and colour on environment
• Structure and star formation in galaxies out to z=3: evidence for surface density dependent evolution and upsizing
• Size evolution of the most massive galaxies at 1.7<z<3 from GOODS NICMOS survey imaging
• The Gemini Deep Deep Survey: III. The abundance of massive galaxies 3-6 billion years after the Big Bang
• The Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) - II. Optical Imaging and Photometric Catalogs
• Triaxial orbit based galaxy models with an application to the (apparent) decoupled core galaxy NGC 4365
• Multiple minor mergers: formation of elliptical galaxies and constraints for the growth of spiral disks
• The dramatic size evolution of elliptical galaxies and the quasar feedback
• The Majority of Compact Massive Galaxies at z~2 are Disk Dominated
• NICMOS Imaging of DRGs in the HDF-S: A Relation Between Star-Formation and Size at z ~ 2.5
• Superdense massive galaxies in the Nearby Universe
• The Morphologies of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in the CANDELS-UDS Field: Compact Bulges, and the Rise and Fall of Massive Disks
• The Morphological Diversities Among Star-forming Galaxies at High Redshifts in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS)
• The Kormendy relation of massive elliptical galaxies at z~1.5. Evidence for size evolution ?
• Structural Properties of Central Galaxies in Groups and Clusters
• A Connection Between Bulge Properties and the Bimodality of Galaxies
• Clustering of K-selected Galaxies at 2<z<3.5: Evidence for a Color-Density Relation
• Morphological evolution of galaxies from ultradeep HST WFC3 imaging: the Hubble sequence at z~2
• Morphologies and Color Gradients of Luminous Evolved Galaxies at z~1.5
• The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue: Exploring the Color-Concentration Bimodality via Bulge-Disc Decomposition
• Morphologies of Two Massive Old Galaxies at z ~ 2.5
• The evolution of galaxy clustering since z = 3 using the UKIDSS Ultra Deep Survey: the divergence of passive and star-forming galaxies

Cited by in corpus (142)

• 3D-HST+CANDELS: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Distribution since $z=3$
• Introducing the Illustris Project: the evolution of galaxy populations across cosmic time
• The Evolution of Galaxy Structure over Cosmic Time
• The Confinement of Star-Forming Galaxies into a Main Sequence through Episodes of Gas Compaction, Depletion, and Replenishment
• Bulge Growth and Quenching since z = 2.5 in CANDELS/3D-HST
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): mass-size relations of z$<$0.1 galaxies subdivided by Sérsic index, colour and morphology
• Evolution of Density Profiles in High-z Galaxies: Compaction and Quenching Inside-Out
• A universal structural and star-forming relation since $z\sim 3$: connecting compact star-forming and quiescent galaxies
• A CANDELS - 3D-HST Synergy: Resolved Star Formation Patterns at 0.7 < z < 1.5
• COSMOS-DASH: The Evolution of the Galaxy Size-Mass Relation Since z~3 from new Wide Field WFC3 Imaging Combined with CANDELS/3DHST
• Spectroscopic Confirmation of the Rich z=1.80 Galaxy Cluster JKCS 041 Using the WFC3 Grism: Environmental Trends in the Ages and Structure of Quiescent Galaxies
• The sizes, masses and specific star-formation rates of massive galaxies at 1.3<z<1.5: strong evidence in favour of evolution via minor mergers
• CANDELS+3D-HST: compact SFGs at z~2-3, the progenitors of the first quiescent galaxies
• Superdense galaxies and the mass-size relation at low redshift
• The Morphologies of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in the CANDELS-UDS Field: Compact Bulges, and the Rise and Fall of Massive Disks
• The Redshift and Mass Dependence on the Formation of The Hubble Sequence at z>1 from CANDELS/UDS
• CANDELS Multiwavelength Catalogs: Source Identification and Photometry in the CANDELS COSMOS Survey Field
• The evolution of post-starburst galaxies from z=2 to z= 0.5
• CANDELS Visual Classifications: Scheme, Data Release, and First Results
• ZFOURGE/CANDELS: On the Evolution of M* Galaxy Progenitors from z=3 to 0.5
• Predicting Quiescence: The Dependence of Specific Star Formation Rate on Galaxy Size and Central Density at 0.5<z<2.5
• Two Conditions for Galaxy Quenching: Compact Centres and Massive Haloes
• Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): ${\mathcal{M}}_{\star }-R_{\mathrm{e}}$ relations of $z=0$ bulges, discs and spheroids
• The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey
• MegaMorph -- multi-wavelength measurement of galaxy structure: Sérsic profile fits to galaxies near and far
• PHIBSS2: survey design and z=0.5-0.8 results. Molecular gas reservoirs during the winding-down of star formation
• The KMOS Deep Survey (KDS) I: dynamical measurements of typical star-forming galaxies at z $\simeq$ 3.5
• Deconstructing the Galaxy Stellar Mass Function with UKIDSS and CANDELS: the Impact of Colour, Structure and Environment
• The connection between galaxy structure and quenching efficiency
• SDSS-IV MaNGA: Effects of Morphology in the global and local Star Formation Main Sequences
• Mass assembly and morphological transformations since $z\sim 3$ from CANDELS
• Quenching of Star Formation in SDSS Groups: Centrals, Satellites, and Galactic Conformity
• Adaptive Semi-linear Inversion of Strong Gravitational Lens Imaging
• Morpheus: A Deep Learning Framework For Pixel-Level Analysis of Astronomical Image Data
• Structural Evolution of Early-type Galaxies to z=2.5 in CANDELS
• Resolving Quiescent Galaxies at $z\gtrsim 2$: II. Direct Measures of Rotational Support
• The morphologies of massive galaxies from z~3 - Witnessing the 2 channels of bulge growth
• Hiding in plain sight: An abundance of compact massive spheroids in the local Universe
• The Bulge-Disk Decomposed Evolution of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• Observational evidence of a slow downfall of star formation efficiency in massive galaxies during the last 10 Gyr
• CANDELS: The correlation between galaxy morphology and star formation activity at z~2
• Structural evolution in massive galaxies at z~2
• Two-phase galaxy evolution: the cosmic star-formation histories of spheroids and discs
• Rest-frame near-infrared sizes of galaxies at cosmic noon: objects in JWST's mirror are smaller than they appeared
• Central Stellar Mass Deficits in the Bulges of Local Lenticular Galaxies, and the Connection with Compact z ~ 1.5 Galaxies
• The host galaxies of X-ray selected Active Galactic Nuclei to z=2.5: Structure, star-formation and their relationships from CANDELS and Herschel/PACS
• The properties of (sub)millimetre-selected galaxies as revealed by CANDELS HST WFC3/IR imaging in GOODS-South
• The intrinsic characteristics of galaxies on the SFR-stellar mass plane at 1.2<z<4: I. the correlation between stellar age, central density and position relative to the main sequence
• Evolution of Galaxy Shapes from Prolate to Oblate through Compaction Events
• Wet Compaction to a Blue Nugget: a Critical Phase in Galaxy Evolution
• Size evolution of star-forming galaxies with $2<z<4.5$ in the VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey
• Independent Cosmological Constraints from high-z HII Galaxies
• The Decomposed Bulge and Disk Size-Mass Relations of Massive Galaxies at 1<z<3 in CANDELS
• The evolution of galaxy size and morphology at z~0.5-3.0 in the GOODS-N region with HST/WFC3 data
• MegaMorph -- multi-wavelength measurement of galaxy structure: physically meaningful bulge-disc decomposition of galaxies near and far
• The mass, colour, and structural evolution of today's massive galaxies since z~5
• The Number Density of Quiescent Compact Galaxies at Intermediate Redshift
• Sizes, Colour gradients and Resolved Stellar Mass Distributions for the Massive Cluster Galaxies in XMMUJ2235-2557 at z = 1.39
• A spectroscopic sample of massive, evolved z~2 galaxies: Implications for the evolution of the mass-size relation
• Beyond Spheroids and Discs: Classifications of CANDELS Galaxy Structure at 1.4 < z < 2 via Principal Component Analysis
• The Formation of Bulges, Discs and Two Component Galaxies in the CANDELS Survey at z < 3
• Rejuvenated galaxies with very old bulges at the origin of the bending of the main sequence and of the "green valley"
• The effects of dust on the photometric parameters of decomposed disks and bulges
• Origin of Star-Forming Rings around Massive Centres in Massive Galaxies at $z<4$
• Bulges and disks in the local Universe. Linking the galaxy structure to star formation activity
• The VIMOS Ultra-Deep Survey: A major merger origin for the high fraction of galaxies at $2<z<6$ with two bright clump
• The cosmic assembly of stellar haloes in massive Early-Type Galaxies
• Satellite Quenching, Galaxy Inner Density and the Halo Environment
• JADES + JEMS: A Detailed Look at the Buildup of Central Stellar Cores and Suppression of Star Formation in Galaxies at Redshifts 3 < z < 4.5
• One Plane for All: Massive Star-Forming and Quiescent Galaxies Lie on the Same Mass Fundamental Plane at z~0 and z~0.7
• SINFONI/VLT 3D spectroscopy of massive galaxies: Evidence of rotational support at z~1.4
• Star formation in luminous quasar host galaxies at z=1-2
• The Wide Area VISTA Extra-galactic Survey (WAVES)
• Limits to Rest-Frame Ultraviolet Emission From Far-Infrared-Luminous z~6 Quasar Hosts
• The Effect of Environment on Discs and Bulges
• A combined VANDELS and LEGA-C study: the evolution of quiescent galaxy size, stellar mass and age from $\text{z}=0.6$ to $\text{z}=1.3$
• The origin of bulges and discs in the CALIFA survey: I. Morphological evolution
• Compaction-Driven Black Hole Growth
• Photometric properties and luminosity function of nearby massive early-type galaxies
• Stochastic angular momentum slews and flips and their effect on discs in galaxy formation models
• Evidence of bar--driven secular evolution in the gamma--ray narrow--line Seyfert 1 galaxy FBQS J164442.5+261913
• Unbiased Differential Size Evolution and the Inside-Out Growth of Galaxies in the Deep CANDELS GOODS Fields at $1\le z\le 7$
• Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA): Accurate number densities & environments of massive ultracompact galaxies at 0.02 < z < 0.3
• The abundance of compact quiescent galaxies since z ~ 0.6
• How Robust Are the Size Measurements of High-redshift Compact Galaxies?
• Star formation and quenching among the most massive galaxies at z~1.7
• Observations of the Initial Formation and Evolution of Spiral galaxies at $1<z<3$ in the CANDELS fields
• Morphological evolution in situ: Disk-dominated cluster red sequences at z ~ 1.25
• Damped Lyα Absorption Systems in Semi-Analytic Models with Multiphase Gas
• An exquisitely deep view of quenching galaxies through the gravitational lens: Stellar population, morphology, and ionized gas
• Polar-ring galaxies: the SDSS view on the symbiotic galaxies
• The growth of galactic bulges through mergers in LCDM haloes revisited. II. Morphological mix evolution
• The Build-Up of Nuclear Stellar Cusps in Extreme Starburst Galaxies and Major Mergers
• SuperBoRG: Search for The Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies and Quasars in HST Parallel Imaging Data
• Ultramassive dense early-type galaxies: velocity dispersions and number density evolution since z=1.6
• Nonparametric galaxy morphology from UV to submm wavelengths
• Evidence for (and Against) Progenitor Bias in the Size Growth of Compact Red Galaxies
• The bulge-disk decomposition of AGN host galaxies
• Morphological evolution of cluster red sequence galaxies in the past 9 Gyr
• The stellar mass - size relation for cluster galaxies at z=1 with high angular resolution from the Gemini/GeMS multi-conjugate adaptive optics system
• Studying the Physical Properties of Tidal Features I. Extracting Morphological Substructure in CANDELS Observations and VELA Simulations
• Reconstructing the Assembly of Massive Galaxies. II. Galaxies Develop Massive and Dense Stellar Cores as They Evolve and Head Toward Quiescence at Cosmic Noon
• H-ATLAS/GAMA: Quantifying the Morphological Evolution of the Galaxy Population Using Cosmic Calorimetry
• The Link Between Morphology and Structure of Brightest Cluster Galaxies: Automatic Identification of cDs
• High Redshift Massive Quiescent Galaxies are as Flat as Star Forming Galaxies: The Flattening of Galaxies and the Correlation with Structural Properties in CANDELS/3D-HST
• Galaxies in X-ray Groups. III. Satellite Color and Morphology Transformations
• Discovery of Nine Intermediate Redshift Compact Quiescent Galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Stellar populations, stellar masses and the formation of galaxy bulges and discs at $z<3$ in CANDELS
• The evolution of disc galaxies with and without classical bulges since z~1
• The structure of massive quiescent galaxies at z~3 in the CANDELS-COSMOS field
• Exploring the progenitors of brightest cluster galaxies at z~2
• Synergies between low- and intermediate-redshift galaxy populations revealed with unsupervised machine learning
• Kinematics and Mass Distributions for Non-Spherical Deprojected Sérsic Density Profiles and Applications to Multi-Component Galactic Systems
• Recovering the origins of the lenticular galaxy NGC 3115 using multi-band imaging
• The Wavelength Dependence of High-Redshift Galaxy Structure in the Rest-Frame Ultraviolet
• Compact Quiescent Galaxies at Intermediate Redshifts
• The THESAN-ZOOM project: central starbursts and inside-out quenching govern galaxy sizes in the early Universe
• Detection of Prominent Stellar Disks in the Progenitors of Present-day Massive Elliptical Galaxies
• Bulgeless galaxies in the COSMOS field: environment and star formation evolution at $z<1$
• The host galaxy of the z=2.4 radio-loud AGN MRC 0406-244 as seen by HST
• The Puzzling Origin of Massive Compact Galaxies in MaNGA
• The mass dependence of structure, star formation rate, and mass assembly mode at 0.5<z< 2.5
• Stellar systems following the $R^{1/m}$ luminosity law. III. Photometric, intrinsic, and dynamical properties for all Sérsic indices
• Stellar systems following the $R^{1/m}$ luminosity law. IV. The total energy and the central concentration of galaxies
• Flat Rotation Curves found in Merging Dusty Starbursts at $z=2.3$ through Tilted-Ring Modeling
• Formation of disc galaxies around z~2
• Fast Rotators at Cosmic Noon: Stellar Kinematics for 15 Quiescent Galaxies from JWST-SUSPENSE
• Structures, stellar population properties, AGN fractions, and environments of massive compact galaxies at $1<z<2$ in 3D--{\it HST}/CANDELS
• MIDIS. Near-infrared rest-frame morphology of massive galaxies at $3<z<5$ in the Hubble eXtreme Deep Field
• The Fundamental Plane Relation of Early-Type Galaxies: Environmental Dependence
• Systematic effects on the size-luminosity relation: dependence on model fitting and morphology
• Color dependence of clustering of massive galaxies at 0.5$\le z\le$2.5: similar spatial distributions between green valley galaxies and AGNs
• 2D Surface Brightness Modelling of Large 2MASS Galaxies I: Photometry and Structural Parameters
• When did round disk galaxies form?
• The Isophotal Structure of Star-forming Galaxies at $0.5<z<1.8$ in CANDELS: Implications for the Evolution of Galaxy Structure
• VALES V: A kinematic analysis of the molecular gas content in $H$-ATLAS galaxies at $z\sim 0.03-0.35$ using ALMA
• The abundance of massive compact galaxies at $1.0<z<3.0$ in 3D-HST/CANDELS
• Measuring Structural Parameters Through Stacking Galaxy Images
• Exploring the evolution of star formation and dwarf galaxy properties with JWST/MIRI serendipitous spectroscopic surveys
• Jet-driven active galactic nucleus feedback in galaxy formation before black hole formation
• Compact dust-obscured star-formation and the origin of the galaxy bimodality
• A SHARP Look at Quenching and Bulge-Disk Growth in Massive Galaxies at Cosmic Noon